to the editor: President Trump's tariffs faced their day in court last week (“Why Trump's tariff strategy could survive a Supreme Court defeat,” November 7). Nine Supreme Court justices will soon rule on its legality, but economists have long since issued their verdict on its effectiveness (or lack thereof).
The 19th century economist Henry George once wrote“What protection teaches us is to do to ourselves in times of peace what enemies seek to do to us in times of war.” Few lines better capture the madness of President Trump's long-standing love affair with tariffs.
George acknowledged that protectionism amounts to a self-imposed blockade. If blockades are an effective way to strangle an enemy's economy, why would we voluntarily inflict such damage on ourselves?
Conservatives once understood this. ronald reagan declared that protectionism is “destructionism.” By taxing imports, we do not punish foreigners. We punish ourselves. That's not “America First”: it's economic self-sabotage.
Scott Burns, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
